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How To Make Mandelman’s Head Spin Around Like Linda Blair

February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mandelman Says I Grilled Him Too Hard On One OF His Doer Calls To Action

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Colorado on what was supposed to be a vacation but soon turned into a business trip.  When people find out I’m traveling to a specific city, my phone starts ringing.  It’s usually lawyers who need my help on files and want to meet in person.  So two days into the trip, I decided to just go into work mode and make money while I’m there.  The only time I took off was on Saturday to go see the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls, a roller derby team I’m thinking of sponsoring.

So while I’m watching these ladies elbow each other, I get a call about a woman in Massachusetts that Martin Andelman was trying to help.  So Sunday I call Martin and ask him a bunch of questions about the foreclosure and where it stands.  Naturally, Martin has no clue what I’m talking about and I could tell his head was spinning like Linda Blair in the movie, The Exorcist.   However, to Martin’s credit he’s journalist with a communications background not a mortgage or foreclosure background.  Next time I’m in LA, I will have to stop and give him a Mortgage 101 class.

It all worked out though because One West agreed to give Lisa Ferrecchia who is a Thalidomide Baby a loan modification that would keep her in her house permanently with out the need for me to call One West.  My conversation with Martin must have made an impression because he blogged about it when he wrote about Lisa getting her loan mod from One West.  Here is the blog below:

OneWest Bank DOES IT for Lisa in Massachusetts! 

It all started early last Saturday morning when I got a call about a homeowner in Massachusetts scheduled to lose her home to foreclosure sale in just two days…

Now, I don’t mind telling you that I had just posted a DOERS ALERT the day before, and to be honest they’re all a lot of work and I really didn’t want to have to write another one the very next day… I was exhausted and looking forward to sleeping for the next couple days.

The client’s name was Lisa Ferrecchia, who I was told was one of the thalidomide babies. At the time, I did’t know if that meant she was part of a sister singing trio… you know… The Thalidomide Babies,” or what, but I’d soon find out.

So, I read about thalidomide and OneWest Bank most of the day and then started writing a DOER ALERT, which was finally ready to post at about 5:30 PM on Sunday afternoon.  I was beyond tired and feeling kind of awful, if you must know.  I hadn’t been outside of my study for yet another weekend straight… my wife wasn’t saying anything, and my daughter was saying she missed me.  But what could I do?  I mean, seriously?  Lisa Ferrecchia’s home was to be sold the very next day at 3:00 PM in Massachusetts.

Plus, in Massachusetts, do you know how they do it?  They auction the home off right on the soon to be ex-homeowner’s front lawn, for all to see.  I’ll tell you what… that is some 17th century nonsense right there.  As in… Me thinketh she is a witch!  Aye, a witch!  Might as well be making the homeowner walk around with a scarlet ‘F’ on his or her clothing.  I figured that Lisa had probably spent a lifetime seeing people stare at her, and the thought of her home being auctioned off in front of her neighbors… well… that just was not going to happen.  Not today.

I had spoken to attorney Glenn Russell early on Saturday, and told him to have a skeletal bankruptcy filing ready just in case.  I had just spent the whole weekend behind closed doors in my study typing and posting at 5:35 PM on Sunday, I wasn’t at all sure my DOERS would DO it in time… or even could DO it in time.  And if that was the case… why the heck did I just blow the whole weekend with my family… again.  I was conflicted and unsure of everything.

To make matters even worse…  and I wouldn’t normally share this publicly… but Steve Dibert of MFI Miami called me on Sunday evening… he was in Denver for something foreclosure-related.  He had read my DOER ALERT post and asked me what I was doing about Lisa Ferrecchia.  I said I posted a DOER ALERT and my DOERS would handle it.  He asked if I had called Glenn Russell and if Glenn was going to file a TRO, etc. etc. to stop the next day’s sale. He asked a bunch of other technical legal questions until I had a headache.

I said there wasn’t time for any of that, but my DOERS would handle it.  He wasn’t buying any of it.  I said, don’t worry… I’m sure it’ll be fine.

And he replied: “Dude, I think your nuts.  I’ll call Glenn and find out  what else can be done.”  He hung up.

“Oh, ye-of-little-faith-shithead,” I thought to myself.  

We all know what happened next, right?  OneWest Bank’s CEO emailed me late on Sunday night saying that he’d look into the situation the next morning… and the next morning OneWest contacted Lisa… told her that the sale had already been postponed… and that they’d do everything they could to get her a loan modification that would allow her to keep her home.  I wrote to tell everyone the good news, and said that I was certain that OneWest Bank would do exactly what they had promised.  Of course, not everyone was sure whether I was kidding… I was right… or I was a fruit loop.

One West said that they would let Lisa know by today… Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  And so here we are…

 

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MERS Tells Schneiderman His Lawsuit Is Garbage

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami

Below is a press release issued by MERS in response to the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week naming MERS as a co-defendant for defrauding the people of the state of New York.  Naturally, like every other press release MERS publishes you have to take it with a grain of salt because their press releases tend to be as accurate and unbiased as Leni Riefenstahl’s pro-Nazi “documentary”, Triumph of the Will from 1934.

Setting the Record Straight

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) takes its role as a mortgagee very seriously. The MERS® System is an important part of the mortgage industry and the MERS business model has been consistently validated in all 50 states. All of the activities of MERSCORP and MERS are in compliance with state and federal laws. We are confident that as people understand more about MERS and the role we play, they will see that MERS adds great value to our nation’s system of housing finance in ways that benefit not just financial institutions, the broader economy and the government, but—most of all—homeowners.

AG Schneiderman Claim #1: Defendants have improperly brought New York foreclosure proceedings in MERS’ Name

FACT: The right to bring a foreclosure action is determined by the Plaintiff’s relationship to the mortgage loan, which is whether the entity bringing the action is the holder of the note or authorized by the holder of the note to bring a foreclosure action. MERS was authorized by the note holder to bring foreclosure actions in its name, and the borrower agreed that MERS may be the entity who may foreclose on the property in the event of a default. That being said, since July 2011 MERS no longer acts as foreclosing entity. In addition, MERSCORP never received a fee or made any money on foreclosures initiated in MERS’ name.

AG Schneiderman Claim #2: MERS Certifying Officers, including defendant servicers’ employees and agents, have submitted false, deceptive and often legally invalid documents in New York foreclosure proceedings

FACT: When MERS is the mortgagee and is not the entity foreclosing, MERS executes an assignment of a mortgage that transfers all of the interests in the mortgage to the entity that is foreclosing prior to the commencement of the foreclosure. The courts have held that MERS may assign its interests, as a mortgagee, and that such assignments are valid.

AG Schneiderman Claim #3: The use of MERS certifying officers by defendants has confused and deceived homeowners and the courts.

FACT: It is perfectly proper for MERS, as the mortgagee, in order to fulfill certain acts required of the mortgagee, to appoint signing officers (or agents) to act on MERS’ behalf. To act as a principal for its signing officers is not a deceptive trade practice. There is no requirement under New York law that a principal must disclose whether its agents are employed by another entity. These agents authorized to act on behalf of MERS are not employees of MERS, but employees of the loan servicers or sub-servicing companies. Signing officers are duly authorized to perform their responsibilities on behalf of MERS who is the mortgagee – in compliance with applicable laws – and to sign their own names and to use the titles “vice president” and “assistant secretary” of MERS.

AG Schneiderman Claim #4: MERS and defendant servicers through their use of MERS have concealed important information from homeowners about their property and the role that MERS plays with respect to their mortgage.

FACT: MERS does not hide ownership or undermine the integrity of land records. Any mortgage holder registered in the MERS® System can easily access information related to their mortgage on our website or through a toll-free number. Federal law provides that consumers are notified for changes in investors or servicing status. In addition, county land records were not intended to identify the servicer of a mortgage or the current note holder; they are intended to provide notice to purchasers of property that there is a lien on the property and when that lien was perfected.

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Michigan Foreclosure King Buys Influence With $200k Check For Romney Super PAC

February 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Romney Super PAC Is Attacking Gingrich For Cashing In On Foreclosures

Gregory Korte and Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

A Detroit-area law firm that represents mortgage giants Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac in foreclosure and eviction cases contributed $200,000 to a super PAC supporting Republican Mitt Romney for president.

That super PAC, Restore Our Future, has run ads against rival Newt Gingrich attacking his ties to Freddie Mac and accusing him of “cashing in” on the foreclosure crisis.

The contribution, dated Dec. 27, was written from the corporate account of Trott & Trott PC. A 2010 Supreme Court decision allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on independent campaigns to support or oppose federal candidates.

Managing partner David Trott is a member of Romney’s Michigan finance committee. He and his wife also contributed $7,500 personally to the Romney campaign, according to FEC reports, and Trott employees also contributed more than $11,000 to Romney.

Through a firm spokesman, Trott declined to comment.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul explained it this way: “To the extent anyone is supporting Mitt Romney over President Obama it is because the state of the economy and the president’s failure to create jobs.” She referred further questions to Restore Our Future.

“We don’t comment on our donors beyond what is disclosed in our FEC report,” said Brittany Gross, a spokeswoman for the super PAC. By law, super PACs can’t coordinate with candidate campaign organizations.

In debates, ads and stump speeches, Romney has blasted Gingrich for his role as a consultant for Freddie Mac after he left Congress in 1999. “He made $1.6 million in his company, the very institution that helped stand behind the huge housing crisis here in Florida,” Romney said in Dunedin, Fla., this week.

With 96 attorneys, the Farmington Hills firm is one of two law firms in Michigan authorized by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage underwriters, to represent mortgage servicers foreclosing on government-backed mortgages.

“David Trott, either through Trott & Trott or individually, has a complete monopoly on everything that goes on post-foreclosure on someone’s home,” said Steve Dibert of MFI-Miami, who works as a mortgage investigator for homeowners in foreclosure.

Read more here

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Is The American Dream Worth One Women’s Life?

February 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Cancer Did What Linda Orlans And An Inept Judge Couldn’t Do

Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami

“To the last, I will grapple with thee… from Hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!  -Khan Noonien Singh quoting Moby Dick

For the past 18 months, I have blogged about Lynne Lucas, my client in Northern Michigan who was fighting an illegal foreclosure that contained fraudulent assignments, robo-signing, unrecorded mortgage assignments, fraudulent notary signatures and a myriad of other illegal activity committed by the staff of Orlans Associates.  She also had to deal with the second most incompetent judge in the state of Michigan, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson.   She did this all while battling terminal cancer.

Last October, a video crew from the Korean Broadcasting System spent two days interviewing Lynne for a documentary. During the interview, she proclaimed that she was going to win both the battle to keep the house and the battle against cancer.   She vowed to fight for both until her last breath.  She did and she wanted others to know they could stand up and take on their banks as well.

I am amazed at the number of people knew who she was because of my blogs.  Every attorney and every reporter I have spoken to during the past year ask me how my “client with cancer” is doing and if she is still in her house.

Yet, I don’t know if she fully understood the yet unwritten legacy she will leave behind for the thousands of people in this country fighting against the odds to save their home from illegal  foreclosure by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and unscrupulous foreclosure mills.

A fight I had the privilege of being a part of for the past 22 months and one that has spawned huge legal cases and investigations across the US.

The investigation MFI-Miami did on her file has led to criminal investigations into robo-signing by employees of Orlans Associates by both the Michigan and Massachusetts Attorney Generals, propelled Marshall Isaacs to robo-signing super stardom and was the genesis of two class action lawsuits filed by Ingham and Branch Counties against the banks, mortgage servicers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Orlans Associates and Trott & Trott for failing to pay the Michigan Real Estate Transfer Tax on properties in foreclosure.     The follow up investigation done by MFI-Miami indicated these entities defrauded nearly $1.2 billion from Michigan counties and the Michigan School Aid fund since 1998.    Her foreclosure has also helped an investigation MFI-Miami will release in the next few weeks showing how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosures are illegal in 5 states hardest hit by the financial crisis and how FHFA and the U.S. Treasury have some serious explaining to do to the American people.

Like most people, Lynne didn’t seek the glamour of being a revolutionary, she was content being a waitress at a casino and living in her house on the lake in Northern Michigan but her fight, the fight of one person, can serve as an inspiration.  I know her fight will live on and hopefully will serve as an inspiration to others to stand up against an unjust system that puts profits and individual greed against the simple concepts of community and love thy neighbor.

 

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